Ruud van Nistelrooy is still chasing the highs

WHEN Ruud van Nistelrooy joined Hamburg in January, he admitted his manager Bruno Labbadia did not exactly sell the club to him, asking him instead: ‘Five years at Man U, four at Real, why would you want to play for Hamburg?’

Ruud van Nistelrooy chose to move to Hamburg after a long spell out through injury []

His answer went along the lines that he wanted to leave the game remembered for what he is now rather than what he had been – crocked at Real or the player that terrorised Premier League defences for Manchester United.

“I understood where he was coming from when you have a player coming down a step who has achieved things, he can be a bit of a problem that kills a team. He was afraid of that but I wanted to prove I was still in the game and playing well. So far it has been going well.”

Having been in the running along with Spurs and West Ham to sign former United star Van Nistelrooy, Fulham will be hoping proof of their misfortune does not come in duplicate this evening in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.

While Fulham were standing on the hard shoulder on the way to Hamburg – the final leg of their journey stalled for three hours after a lorry overturned – Van Nistelrooy was relaxing after training, talking about what his game still offered.

“After being injured for 18 months I just enjoy being out there,” he said. “I’ve got my fitness back on track. I had three games for Madrid [after a torn meniscus], I had too many injuries and I thought: ‘It’s not working here. I need to change to get my career back on track’ and that’s why I came here. I’ve had a great start with a few good goals and so I am really happy with it.”

Van Nistelrooy came closest to signing for Tottenham and admitted that he had a “fantastic” conversation with Harry Redknapp but was unwilling to uproot his family for what was effectively a six-month contract.

He believed that Hamburg offered the opportunity to resurrect his career, if not to the levels of his pomp then at least to his pre-injury peak. What he didn’t believe was possible was that it would take him to a European stage and so close to a final.

“This is the second European semi-final in my career [his first was for Manchester United against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002] and I couldn’t have thought it would be with Hamburg. We lost that one so it would be amazing to reach a European final with Hamburg – and against either Liverpool or Atletico Madrid as well.”

Van Nistelrooy was not taking the Fulham threat lightly despite everyone conceding their difficult journey would act against them.

“If you beat Shakhtar and Juventus and Wolfsburg that kind of says something,” he said. “To reach something like this they have been very solid. They can beat anyone. We have to be careful.

“I have also been impressed by Zamora. He holds the ball, he’s a team player, works hard and he’s an all-round striker.” Zamora said he was looking forward to testing himself against Van Nistelrooy, one of his heroes. When told that Zamora had watched him growing up, he laughed. “How old is he? When did he grow up?”

Otherwise he was not touchy about his age. “In July I will be 34,” he said. “I only have so many years to play so I think I should leave it with this year and the next, for now. I still hope I can force my way into Holland’s World Cup squad.”

As Fulham play their 57th game of the season, they will know that subduing Van Nistelrooy will be one of their chief tasks.